ArticleEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2024
The association between duration of breastfeeding and the trajectory of brain development from childhood to young adulthood: an 8-year longitudinal study.
Article in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factors Influencing Breastfeeding Outcomes Following Neonatal Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy: A Mixed Methods Systematic Review.Journal of human lactation : official journal of International Lactation Consultant Association · 2026Pooled it
- Early-Life Cumulative Intake of Ultra-Processed Foods and Subcortical Brain Volume at Age Six Years: A Prospective Cohort Study.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Article
- Breastfeeding Duration and Cognitive Performance Among Youths.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Correction: Implications for the Prevention of Poverty-Related Environmental Risks for Childhood ADHD: A Narrative Review.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- Implications for the Prevention of Poverty-Related Environmental Risks for Childhood ADHD: A Narrative Review.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Review
- Breastfeeding in Infancy and Adult Health: A Narrative Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Association between the timing of chewable complementary food introduction and functional speech disorders in children: a case-control study.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Sustained breastfeeding associations with brain structure and cognition from late childhood to early adolescence.Pediatric research · 2025Article
- Gut microbiome is associated with insula structure in neonates.Physiology & behavior · 2025Article
- Higher in-hospital proportion of breast milk intake improves brain functional connectivity and neurological assessment in preterm infants.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Article
- Review
- Role of breastfeeding in disease prevention.Microbial biotechnology · 2024Review
- Association Between Breastfeeding and Neurodevelopment at 6 Years of Age in the French PELAGIE Birth Cohort.Journal of midwifery & women's healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Breastfeeding has been associated with several short- and long-term health benefits, including positive cognitive and behavioral outcomes. However, the impact of breastfeeding on structural brain development over time remains unclear. We aimed to assess the association between breastfeeding duration in childhood and the developmental trajectory of overall cortical thickness, cortical area, and total intracranial volume during the transition from childhood to early adulthood. Participants included 670 children and adolescents with 1326 MRI scans acquired over 8 years from the Brazilian High-Risk Cohort for Mental Conditions (BHRCS). Breastfeeding was assessed using a questionnaire answered by the parents. Brain measures were estimated using MRI T1-weighted images at three time points, with 3-year intervals. Data were evaluated using generalized additive models adjusted for multiple confounders. We found that a longer breastfeeding duration was directly associated with higher global cortical thickness in the left (edf = 1.0, F = 6.07, p = 0.01) and right (edf = 1.0, F = 4.70, p = 0.03) hemispheres. For the total intracranial volume, we found an interaction between duration of breastfeeding and developmental stage (edf = 1.0, F = 6.81, p = 0.009). No association was found between breastfeeding duration and brain area. Our study suggests that the duration of breastfeeding impacts overall cortical thickness and the development of total brain volume, but not area. This study adds to the evidence on the potential impact of breastfeeding on brain development and provides relevant insights into the mechanisms by which breastfeeding might confer cognitive and mental health benefits.
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